Furniture leg mounting



oct; `9, 1945-.

J. A. FERGUSON 'FURNITURE LEG MQUNTING Filed April 1, 1940 d Auf/v Famosa/V Patented Oct. 9, 1945 Sears, Roebuck and Co.

ration of New York' Chicago, Ill., a'corpo` Application April 1, 194o,.sefis1,No. .327.146

solaires. (olgidig-"iiey l y f disposed in the plane substantially diagonalto Thisinvention relates to leg mountings `for furniture or the `like and is concerned more particularly `with a construction enabling a leg `to beadjustably and detachably assembled with a table top or other article to be supported.

; It is an .object of my invention to provide `a leg structure which may. be readily assembled with and disassembled from a table top or the like so that the article of furniture may be shipped'and stored in knock-down condition and maybereadily assembled for service `by an uneh skilled person. .I Y .A further object resides in the provision of a leg mounting including fastening means which is completely concealed. .I 4It is another object to provide a leg mounting employing fastening means which 'may be read-` ily assembled with and disassembled from the. leg and the furniture part supportedl thereby.

a It is .also ,an object to provide a leg structure and mounting whereby the legis securely held inthe desired position of adjustment-.and in such manner as to assist in fastening parts of the table orpther supported member together.

.- Eurther objects and advantages ofthe inyen;

tionwill appear as `the description proceeds..

The-invention will be better understood upon reference to the`` following description and the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. lis a side elevation of a knock-down table constructed in accordance with one form of my inventiom Eig 2 is han enlarged broken isometric view showing details of my inventio n.` A

, .I 3` isa fragmentary sectional `View taken as indicatedpby the line 3-3 in Fig,w2. p y I. u

Fig. 4 is a'ffragmentary sectionalview looking upward, taken substantiallyl through the axis of the bolt in Fi`g. 2. 4, v lig. A5 `is an inverted fragmentarysectionlal View showing howthe parts are assembled.`

Referring now more particularly .to.l the drawe:

ing, I have illustrated my invention as applied to a table top10, although it'wiu be appreciated thatthet invention is applicable Vto any supported article. The tabletop I0 lmay comprise a top or servicelportion IIhaving 4depending bars I2V reinforced'by corner braces orties I3`, of `which onefisshwn,` attached as atId, the bars I2 terminating referably in spaced*` relation l to each other asshown at I5. the illustrated form ofthe invention, I provide a tubular "steel"or"`other metallic leg I'I in the form preferably of a U, the bight I8 being adapted to rest on a floor or other support and the leg In accordancyvith.

Vslippedfinto straddling position relative tothe juncture of the bars" I2 and. the strut.. or brace Ifas shown, and they arecapableof beingexed about the' bight I8 into closer relation.

. The outer branch. 2I of theleg I'I is provided near the to'p 23thereof with alkey-holeslotfZ whose .enlarged portion 25 isA lowermcst,said slot being disposed at the .innerslde oflsaidarrn. The other branch 2i) of the leg I'I hasregistering slots V2 fadjacent theupper end 28 thereof; all of said slots being.substantiallyalined. v` The `brace I3 has an opening *3&1` whichisregisteredwithfthe slotswhenzthe legis properly assembled with the tabletop, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. `The assemblyzofthe'legwith the table structure is ac-` complishedrvery simply. in accordance:` with my invention, as by bolt means 32,`comprisng a bolt 33 havingwa 'head SII; a washer 36 and :a wing nllt'l. wf* ,i i, 1: Vz

Thepartsmay beiassembledasr follows: The table top is' inverted as shownin Fig. 5, as is also the leg' Il; andthe leg is slipped down so that itsbranch '2Ivis disposed between the .adjacent4 ends I5 of the angularly relatedrbarst I2and the other branch 20 iswdisposed .inwardly thereof adjacent the face 33of: the brace I3. The leg Il may..bex.slightly canted as shown in Fig.' 5. The leg 'Il is held withxthe ends `23 and` 2B` of :its ibranches spaced sufficiently. from the table topY portion II to aline the3holes 2140i the branch 2li with the opening 30 .in the brace I3 andlyetenable the. bolt 33 to loeislipped below the end 23 inward between the ends .I5 of the bars I2? andthroughthe opening 3i) inthe brace I3* and throughthe openings 2 in thefleg branch 20. `.The parts are` so dimen,

sion'edthat the bolt head 34 is 'passableithrough `the space between .the bar ends. Ii5;. I The bolt is progressed until its head 34, is substantially in the` `positionshown in dottedline's at .34u in Fig.l

5. In this connection'l it` will be observed that the opening 3l] in the brace I3"is` made suiiigciently' position shown at 34h in Fig; 5. Thereupon the leg is lowered until the enlargement 25 of the key-hole slot in the arm 2| is alined with the bolt head, and then the bolt' head is slipped through the enlargement 25. The shank of the bolt then slides down in the restricted portion 4I) ened on the bolt in such mannerV as to spring the members 2c and 2| toward each other to bring the member 2S into tight clamping engagement with the face 28 of the brace I3 and to bring theV member 2| into tight clamping" relation with the ends I5 of the bars I2, as shown in Fig. 4. There is ample space to enable the hand tooperate the nut 31, and, in view of the distance of the ends of the members and 2l from the bight ofthe leg, the exertion required `Vto spring ther ends of these; members toward each other and into clamping relation with theparts I2 and I3 is not excessive.V The clampingmay be made, as

tight as desired, and when it iscomplete the leg Y islocked against transverse movement by reason of the engagement of the member 2I thereof with the bar ends l5, which form in effect a vertical groove, and the engagement` of the member 20 with that portion ,of the block face 38 which an opening closed at the bottom thereof and alined with the space between said ends, an elongated integral leg formed of a single weldless piece of metal tubing .bent into an elongated U and disposed below said top with its bight rounded and lowermost and having upstanding resiliently relatively movable outer and inner branches .between which said .ends and cross piece are disposed, theouter wall of said outer lbranch being imperforate, said outer branch adjacent its upper end having in the inner wall thereof a keyhole extending longitudinally of said being elongated'the inner branch having elongated 'holes'through the opposite walls thereof alined with said keyhole, and a bolt whose head Y ispassablertransversely through said enlarged is nearest to theY member 2 I. The leg is held from ,n

vertical movement by the tightness ofthe clamping action. To adjust the leg vertically relative tothe table top,.it is necessary merely to back offl the nut V3I,.shift the legup orV down as may be desired, and then tighten theV nut. Y

To disassemble theleg from `the remainder of the structure, itis necessary merely to reverse the procedure followed in assembling the parts. In bothA .assembling and disassembling, whichv it is obvious fromthe foregoing'requires a minimum 4,

of skill, effort andtime, Va substantialportion of the outer member 2l. may be positioned between the bar ends I5 so that said ends assist in hold-v ing the legv in position during assembly and dis-V assembly. of .the parts. Ample space is afforded to render the nut easily accessible at yall times, and to .enable the parts to be readily assembled and disassembled'. i '5 Y It will be observed. that in addition Vto an .ex-

V' tremely. efficient leg mounting, I have provided lonein Awhich the connecting means is completely shielded from .View when the article isjn service.

v The branches 2B and 2I could of course be in-V dependent of each other. With the assembly illustrated, itispreferred that the ends of the branchszc and 2| Vbe open so that if the conL should .happenV tofall into. either'branch when the parts are disassembled, the bolt may be retrievedsimplyby inverting the branch, when the bolt will fall out of the open end ofthe branch.

Various modifications may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, hence, I do not wish to be restricted to the specific form shown or uses mentioned', except to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

Iclaim: r

1. A knock-down table or the like, comprising a table top, a pair Vof, angularly related apron membersgdepending Vfrom saidtop and having adjacent spaced ends, a cross piece spaced from said ends and bridging said members and having portion but only whose shank is passable through said restricted portion, said head being disposed in the outer branch inwardly of said restriction, said shank extending throughffsaid openings in said branches and cross piece and having a free end inwardly beyond said inner branch, and a nut threaded on the free end of said shank and clamping said eross piece and members between said branches. said head vbeing shielded from the outside by said outer branch, said head being passable through the space between said ends of said angularly related memzbers, and said opening in said cross piece being substantially larger in cross-section than said shank to afford clearance for angular movement of said shank to enable. said leg to be attached and detached, all of said holes being closed at the top by the material of said tubing whereby said leg cannot become detached if said .bolt becomes loose, sufficient space being afforded on opposite sides of said cross piece to enable said bolt and nut to be readily manipulated for attachment and detachment and adjustment of said leg.

2. An article of furniture comprising a legsupported member .having a polygonal frame dependent therefrom, a reinforcing Ibar bridging the sides of said frame adjacent each corner thereof, providing with said sides a substantially triangular formation at said corner, a leg at each corner, each pair of juxtaposed ends of said sides providing angularly related surfacesV extending in general parallelism jwith said leg, each leg comprising branches relatively movable transversely, said branches having substantially registering lateral openings, one ofr said branches being engaged withsaid surfaces, the other ofsaid branches .being engaged with that suijface of the associated bar which faces away from theadjacent corner, and a bolt vdetachably connected to said branches and extending through aid openings and associated bar, said Openingsb'eing elon'- gated longitudinally of said branches-to' enable said bolt to clamp said branches in different adjusted positions relative to all of said surfaces, said bar being providedrwith means underlying said bo1t, said bolt being engaged with only the inner side of the branch engaging said angularly related surfaces, said'triangular formation being" J ALLEN FERGUSON. 

